Smoked Turkey
- Total Time
- About 3 hours, plus brining
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
Advertisement
Ingredients
- 110- to 12-pound turkey, brined (see recipe)
- 2tablespoons melted unsalted butter
Preparation
- Step 1
Set up an outdoor grill for indirect grilling, placing a large foil drip pan in center. (If using a smoker, light and set it up according to manufacturer's instructions and heat to 275 degrees. In a smoker, you will need to cook bird longer, 3½ to 4½ hours.)
- Step 2
Drain bird. Blot dry inside and out and truss if desired. Place in center of grill grate, over drip pan and between mounds of natural lump charcoal. Toss ½ cup of soaked wood chops on each mound of coals. Place lid on grill. Adjust vents to keep temperature between 325 and 350 degrees.
- Step 3
Grill turkey until darkly browned and cooked through, 2½ to 3 hours. Baste turkey with melted butter after first hour and every hour thereafter. If skin starts to brown too much, loosely tent bird with foil. Use an instant-read thermometer to test for doneness; turkey is ready when internal temperature of the thigh is 180 degrees. Replenish charcoal every hour, adding 8 to 10 lumps of charcoal to each mound of coals and leaving grill uncovered for a few minutes to allow charcoal to light. After 1 hour, add 1½ cups of soaked wood chips.
- Step 4
Transfer turkey to a platter, loosely tent with foil, and let rest for 10 minutes before carving. Reserve any drippings in drip pan for gravy.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
After 20 years, the Weber bird goes a lot faster than the traditional oven roasted bird. A real crowd pleaser, easy and zero clean-up to speak of. I've averaged in varying outdoor temperatures (from bitter cold to mild) about 10m per pound or less unstuffed. Use a fruit wood chip. To control heat, open bottom vents full and control heat with top vents starting with half to 3/4 closed. Add 10 briquettes on either side every hour. Also I don't baste - just cover and forget about it.
Success! Was freaking out at hour 2 because I could not get the Weber past 275. Maybe the built in thermometer is not working correctly? At hour 3 the bird hit 180. Maybe because it was 35 degrees and raining out? Any way this recipe worked well at 2 beers per hour. I have the middle size kettle and a 10 lb turkey just fit. Brined for 12 hours and then on the grill. Parent said it was the best ever. Try it out. Know your grill and give yourself an extra hour just in case.
We do this on our Big Green Egg with applewood. Its the absolute best and leftovers make amazing stock and turkey pie. It is a hit with everyone - even our family members who insist they don't like turkey.
Agree with Robert. Goes faster and looks spectacular. Used ordinary Weber kettle. I spatchcocked the turkey (difficult and required a saw). Used dry brine. Indirect heat with coals banked to one side and aluminum pan with some water in it below the bird opposite side. Due to my usual fear of dry breast meat, I started with breast toward coals but after an hour rotated the bird 180 degrees to keep legs closest to coals. Came out delicious and looked amazing! Burnished bronze color and perfectly.
Agree with Robert. Goes faster and looks spectacular. Used ordinary Weber kettle. I spatchcocked the turkey (difficult and required a saw). Used dry brine. Indirect heat with coals banked to one side and aluminum pan with some water in it below the bird opposite side. Due to my usual fear of dry breast meat, I started with breast toward coals but after an hour rotated the bird 180 degrees to keep legs closest to coals. Came out delicious and looked amazing! Burnished bronze color and perfectly.
I’ve smoked a turkey for years now. And I can safely assert that to smoke a great turkey is after your fire is started a Bloody Mary is better than a beer!
My father began cooking our turkey on his weber grill many, many years ago. I continue to do this. It produces a very moist and flavorful roast. Honestly, the best.
I cook it @ 285F on the Weber Smokey Mountain, and key, spatch cock it - that will shorten cook time and keep the bird juicier while maintaining the smokey flavors from the smoker. I use cherry wood. Oh and dry brine it the night before, just sprinkle it with 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt and put in fridge over night!
We do this on our Big Green Egg with applewood. Its the absolute best and leftovers make amazing stock and turkey pie. It is a hit with everyone - even our family members who insist they don't like turkey.
Success! Was freaking out at hour 2 because I could not get the Weber past 275. Maybe the built in thermometer is not working correctly? At hour 3 the bird hit 180. Maybe because it was 35 degrees and raining out? Any way this recipe worked well at 2 beers per hour. I have the middle size kettle and a 10 lb turkey just fit. Brined for 12 hours and then on the grill. Parent said it was the best ever. Try it out. Know your grill and give yourself an extra hour just in case.
Success on the first try! We followed Robert’s advice and did not baste it. 12.5lb bird took about 2.5 hours. The grill didn’t get up to 350, it coasted along around 300 the whole time, adding 10 coals an hour.
Been doing my turkey on the charcoal Webber grill with hickory chips since the 70's. Just oil the turkey with peanut oil, slap it on the grill, add charcoal every hour and the damp smoking chips during the last 1/2 hour. It is considerably faster than the oven and you get the great smoky flavor. I stuff the turkey with my husband's French Normandy dressing and it's a winner (winner because he beat out my cornbread stuffing in a cookoff). No brining necessary. The only way to cook a turkey.
Can anyone help me out with doing a much smaller turkey on a stovetop smoker? This is one of those that looks like an oversized baking pan with a tight lid that takes special wood powder/chips. Maybe just the breast? Anyone ever tried this? If not, I may bit the bullet and do a trial run on a breast or half-turkey myself and report back.
Amazing! We spatchcocked our 14lb bird and it cooked at 350 on our Big Green Egg for just over an hour and a half. Everyone raved about the smokey flavor and crispy skin. Plus, it freed up the oven for everything else. This is the winning approach!
We have been bbqing our bird for years. It cooks in half the time and frees up the oven. As an added bonus, the carcass makes an awesome soup with a lucious smokey flavor.
In a lot of respects, grilling is the best way to cook a turkey because the breast tends to cook faster. With the bird rightside-up, I've always gotten consistently good results in my komado-style grill.
Tastiest and prettiest turkey we've ever made! It was slightly dry, but our temp was higher then the recipe and we did not baste. We added some spices to the smoker box for some extra juju. Made gravy from the drippings.
Has anyone tried this on an 18.5" Jumbo Joe. That's the only grill I have at my fingertips right now.
After 20 years, the Weber bird goes a lot faster than the traditional oven roasted bird. A real crowd pleaser, easy and zero clean-up to speak of. I've averaged in varying outdoor temperatures (from bitter cold to mild) about 10m per pound or less unstuffed. Use a fruit wood chip. To control heat, open bottom vents full and control heat with top vents starting with half to 3/4 closed. Add 10 briquettes on either side every hour. Also I don't baste - just cover and forget about it.
Advertisement